I would be perfectly OK to sit still, in a room, for days, weeks, probably months in a row. No matter the lack of a TV, radio, Internet. I am perfectly OK to just be by myself, in isolation. And sometimes isolated, I am. At times, in my apartment in Rome, for days I don't see anyone, don't speak to anyone, and hardly leave "my cave".

Then, when I finally come out, it is like the whole world is anew. As if every little thing is just born out of nothing. I can stand still looking at a pine tree, catching details of its branches I have never noticed before. Impressions from the outside world then come rushing in, at an exhilarating pace, and a breathtaking intensity, for me to soak it all in. It is a rush then, after days in my cave, to see get all of the smells and sights coming in, queued up, registered and processed.

The same goes for travelling. There are times, I feel so tired, just eager for one thing: to let it all go, and lay in the sofa, doing nothing. And then, comes the time, like today, where after one month in Belgium, I need to move on. Initially, I drag my feet. Don't want to move turf. Hate good-byes. Hate to move. Why should I? "I am perfectly fine here, lea'me alone"

I close the zippers of my bags, check the tickets and walk into an airport. But from that moment on, my heart goes beating faster. I look around me, with new eyes. I see people, I see their moods, I see all small things of the ambiance around me. I enjoy the feeling of being pushed back in a seat of an airplane as it lifts off a runway.

I write this at Brussels Airport. I am off again to Rome, after 4 weeks at home with the girls. I don't know when I will see them next. Maybe in a month, maybe in two. I dread to leave them. But I know when I will get out of Fiumicino airport, I will inhale the air, and my heart will beat faster. Knowing new things lay ahead.

Life is an adventure for the eternal traveller.

PS: and you wonder what that picture is? Wonder no more. It is a closeup of a picture taken with my iPhone. A closeup from a piece of coral someone gave us on an isolated beach in Tortola, BVI.

Change Starts Here

Links

As the years went by, I collected a large amount of blogs and websites I like:

● The largest collection of blogs by fellow aidworkers you'll find anywhere
● Resources for aidworkers
● News sites specialized in aid, humanitarian work and nonprofit causes
● Expats, travellers, adventurers and people with their heart in the right place, you can find here